54, Lot: 112. Estimate $2500. Sold for $2301. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

VITELLIUS. 69 AD. AV Aureus (6.94 gm). A VITELLIVS GERM IMP AVG TR P, laureate head right / L VITELLIVS COS III CENSOR, Lucius Vitellius seated left on curule chair, right hand extended, holding eagle tipped sceptre in left. RIC I 94; BMCRE 23; BN 54; Cohen 54. Fine, light obverse scrape. ($2500)

On the reverse of this coin the new emperor Aulus Vitellius honors his far more successful and capable father, Lucius Vitellius. Among the accomplishments of the senior Vitellius were marriage to the daughter of Octavia, removal of Pontius Pilate as governor of Judaea, and sharing the consulate with the emperor Claudius in 43 AD. Claudius even left him in charge of Rome while he was occupied with the conquest of Britain.